Re: [Paddlewise] Paddle floats

At 11:41 AM 5/12/99 -0400, John Winters wrote:
>Dave wrote;
>
>
>
>(SNIP)
>
>
>>I agree, in rough conditions, the paddle float is questionable.  The
>>reality is that only a small percentage of the paddlers I see on the water
>>engage the sea in conditions where a paddle float will not work.  The
>float
>>is a good choice for them.  It does not "... entice them into conditions
>>where it won't work," (paraphrasing) because most of them are
>**terrified**
>>of rough water and won't paddle in it.  They stay on the beach, or get the
>>hell off the water when it gets rough.
>
>I have a  bit of trouble with this. How can a safety device that purports
>to make paddling safer not entice people to take additional risks?  In my
>survey of paddlers many said that the presence of a safety device would not
>entice them to increase their risk but then only a couple of questions
>later would tell how they would never take a particular risk without a
>particular safety device. Sounds a bit contradictory to me.
>
>The purveyors of most safety equipment advertise how much safer using their
>wares will make us. If they don't make us safer, why do people insist on
>using them in conditions where they would not paddle without them?
>
>Why do you learn to roll? Because you will be able to get right side up
>after a capsize. Why do you capsize? Because you might get caught in
>conditions you can't handle. Why did you get caught in conditions you can't
>handle? Duhhhhhhhh
>
>Sounds like a circular and illogical argument to me.
>
>"I use all this gear and learn all these skills so I can paddle in
>conditions where I might have to use them but no, I would never take any
>additional risks just because I had a piece of gear or a skill."
>
>Meanwhile back at the beach the wimps won't go out because they fear the
>rough water which explains why they have their paddle floats because you
>never can tell when you will trip over a bottle of Montepulciano Abruzzo
>and need to claw your way back to the surface. ;-)
>
>Cheers,
>John Winters
>Redwing Designs
>Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft
>http://home.ican.net/~735769/
>

John I kind of agree with you , buuuut think it is the unfamiliar or
unknown that gets them. When teaching people how to paddle thru surf ,
getting out or in, they are almost always amazed that it is not as hard as
it seemed standing on the beach. Also one paddler that is a rolling fool
and paddles going  up, down, up, down rolling as he paddles was in the
ocean with me about a half mile or so out and I asked him to roll and he
looked at me like I am crazy, which I am if I don't take my medicine, and
would not try it till I did then it was up, down, up, down rolling the rest
of the paddle. We talked about it and even though this paddler is a good
roller in lakes and rivers he was unsure about the different surroundings
and never doing it in the ocean before ,all the safety equipment we had
with us still did not change that. 

Dana
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